Preview - Dancing with the Stars: Latin Cardio Dance

Yesterday I learned that I got fourth place at the state level for an essay contest my English teacher made the class enter. Considering the fact that I didn't put a ton of effort into my submitted essay, and that I had completely forgotten about the contest, it was a cool little addition to the day. The prize for fourth place was a certificate, a letter from the governor, and a $10 Borders gift card. So, like any self-respecting female, today I went shopping.

We don't have a Borders store in Bend, so I had to go online. Yesterday I had seen some Dancing with the Stars workout DVD's, and looking at the various Youtube videos, it looked pretty basic. I also looked at Jullianne Hough's workout video, which I liked a little more, but unfortunately I couldn't fabricate 86 cents out of thin air past the $10 that I had, so I went with my second choice: Dancing with the Stars: Latin Cardio Dance!!

Even the cover looks exciting! Here's the sales description:

"A glamorous, very high-energy workout that includes four Latin dances and ends with straight-forward toning. You’ll burn fat and have fun as you learn the Merengue, Cha Cha, Samba and Mambo. It’s taught by the TV show’s star instructors — Cheryl Burke and Maksim Chmerkovsky (so you’ll see both male and female teaching styles). You’ll learn the base steps, then add some optional directional and movement variations (or you can stick with the base move to keep your heart rate elevated). Note: more “workout-focused” than the original video; it has more repetitions and smoother transitions. Not recommended for carpeted floors. ©2008. DVD has: Programmable chapters, Close captions"

I'm really hoping that this is everything I think it is. Show season for this year is over and so my teacher is substantially cutting our number of classes from four to one, and this seems like it might be a good alternative to class. I'm looking forward to keeping my skills up and getting a better workout than I would with a class that stops and gos. 

Of course, this isn't a total body workout, but that's why you supplement the DVD with other exercise, like you would in a normal exercise routine. Whether or not this will actually come into fruition has yet to be determined, but I'm going to give it a try. More to come once it actually arrives.

-Kati